A suspicious Brampton fire consumed greater Toronto’s only Sinhalese restaurant early yesterday, which if confirmed as arson would make it the second fiery attack on a Sri Lankan establishment in less than a week.
A Buddhist temple in Scarborough went up in flames on Saturday, in what Toronto police have deemed a criminal fire, igniting fear in the Sinhalese community that the Sri Lankan army’s defeat of the rebel Tigers of Tamil Eelam last Saturday may have made them targets.
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Hasaka Ratnamalala, an executive member of the Sri Lankan United National Association of Canada, said yesterday after the fire at Lanka Gardens in Brampton. “All of the community is scared.… I am really worried about my life.”
In a statement yesterday the Sri Lankan consulate blamed both incidents on ‘‘suspected Tamil Tiger supporters.’’Peel police were reluctant to deem the restaurant blaze a deliberate attack on the Sinhalese owners, saying the cause of the fire, while suspicious, has not yet been established.But Constable Wayne Patterson said the force is “aware” of events a world away.
“It’s definitely something we need to be cognizant of,” he said. “We need to do our due diligence and make sure it was arson before we jump to any conclusions.”
Toronto Police say arsonists broke in to a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple on Kingston Road at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, poured an accelerant just inside the door and set it alight before fleeing the scene. Authorities have not linked the blaze to the conflict in Sri Lanka — which has sparked traffic-snarling mass demonstrations by the local Tamil population, including a candlelight vigil last night at Queen’s Park.
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Saturday, May 23, 2009
Toronto Sinhalese ‘really worried’ after second apparent arson attack
Eatery targeted, Sinhalese say
Sri Lanka's consul blames Tamil sympathizers for restaurant fire a week after temple torched
An early-morning fire at a Sinhalese restaurant in Brampton yesterday was set by Tamil sympathizers, Sri Lanka's consul-general in Toronto believes, while investigators say the blaze is "suspicious."
Standing with an RCMP bodyguard outside the scorched Lanka Gardens restaurant on Wexford Rd., in the Kennedy Rd.-Bovaird Dr. area, Bandula Jayasekara urged Canadian politicians to take a strong stand against violence targeting Sinhalese Canadian citizens, businesses and places of worship.
"First a temple is attacked. Now a restaurant," said Jayasekara.
"It's tragic that this is happening here. Canada has to take a serious look at this and put a stop to it," he said, adding Sinhalese Canadians "are living in fear here."
Jayasekara said an RCMP officer was assigned to accompany him for security in public about two weeks ago in response to the tensions escalating here over the recently ended war in Sri Lanka.
He had met earlier yesterday with a representative of federal Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney to express his concerns over a fire last Saturday set by intruders at a Scarborough Sinhalese Buddhist temple, causing $20,000 to $30,000 damage. He also spoke to Kenney about yesterday's incident.
The temple fire coincided with the announcement by Sri Lanka that the Tamil Tigers had been defeated.
>> Full Story
Sri Lanka's victory may offer lessons - Los Angeles Times
The tactics the government used to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels could help other nations grappling with insurgencies.
By Mark Magnier
Reporting from New Delhi -- Sri Lanka's victory this week after a 25-year battle against the Tamil Tiger rebels represents a rare success story for governments fighting insurgencies.
Even as leaders in Colombo, the capital, declared a national holiday and citizens danced in the streets, military planners and analysts around the world began scrutinizing the war for lessons on how to fight Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups.
For more than two decades in the conflict in Sri Lanka, neither side was strong enough to overcome the other. That changed three years ago, when the army adopted more mobile tactics, overhauled its intelligence system, promoted young commanders and steadily hemmed in one of the world's most ruthless and innovative rebel movements.
At its peak, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the rebels are formally known, controlled one-third of the country, had their own army, a sizable navy and nascent air force, and served as a role model for insurgencies worldwide with their pioneering use of explosives vests and female suicide bombers. This week, the army displayed in triumph what it said was the portly, bullet-riddled body of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in his signature fatigues.
>> Full Story
Comments on LTTE brutality by Kenneth J. Cooper
(Colombo Lankapuvath May 22) Sri Lanka's government was right to finish off the Tamil rebels, despite the risk to and ultimate loss of civilian life. Decisively ending the civil war, which lasted 26 years and killed more than 70,000, will save more lives than were lost in the final assault.
United Nations officials, Western leaders, and human rights groups had called on Sri Lanka to agree to a cease-fire to allow civilians to flee the shrinking enclave where government forces had finally hemmed in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Complying with the request would have been a major strategic mistake.
Those international voices ignored - or maybe didn't know - the pattern to pauses in the civil war: The Tamil Tigers used every cease-fire to rest, recruit, and rearm. Then they took the offensive. That's how they broke a 2002 cease-fire. Another ended in 1995 when the rebels, dramatically, sunk government navy ships.
Beginning this January, Sri Lanka faced the risk that rebel commanders would slip out alongside innocent civilians and live to keep fighting. It had happened before. In 1987, 70,000 troops from neighboring India flushed the Tigers from their northern stronghold in Jaffna. Most of the rebels escaped to reconstitute an insurgent force that would fight for two more decades.
Americans and citizens of other countries that have suffered terrorist attacks should be glad to see the Tamil Tigers and their maniacal leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, done for good. They bequeathed the world the suicide bomber. What other deadly innovations would they have produced had the fighting force survived?
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A religious ceremony at the Dalada Maligawa
(Colombo Lankapuvath May 22) The National ceremony to bless the heroic troops and the President who provided necessary leadership to liberate the nation, will be held at the Tooth of the Temple Relic (Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy tomorrow (22).
The ceremony will be held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapkasa and the incumbents of the Asgiri and Malwathu Chapters.
DiyawadanaNilame Nilanga Dela Bandara, Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Donald Perera, Army Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka, Navy Commander Wise Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Air Force Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonathilaka, Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickramarathna, Director General of Civil Security Force will attend the ceremony.
Subsequent to the ceremony at the ceremonial platform (Magul Maduwa) at the Maligawa, a special procession will follow at 01.00pm.
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A flower to commemorate war heroes- President
(Colombo Lankapuvath May 23) It is necessary to name a flower of our own to commemorate the Sri Lankan heroes of war who have saved this country from the menace of terrorism said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the War Heroes Felicitation Ceremony held at Parliamentary grounds last evening (22).
The President also said that the world still commemorates those heroes of war who 
died in the Second World War to save the world from Hitler. As long as the poppy flower blossoms those heroes are remembered.
Thus it is necessary that we make the world remember the Sri Lankan war heroes for as long as that flower blooms. It is the only way to remember and defend this memorable victory, mentioned President Rajapaksa.
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UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon
United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon walks on a red carpet past a military greeting as he arrives at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 23, 2009. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has traveled to Sri Lanka to discuss the conditions of nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamil civilians displaced by the war and to urge the government to work to heal the nation's ethnic divisions in the wake of the conflict, said his chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar
Pakistan felicitates Sri Lanka on 'great victory over terrorism'
Pakistan has felicitated the Government of Sri Lanka on the achievement of the "great victory over terrorism", a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
It also said: This congratulatory message was conveyed to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hussein A. Bhaila by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan who telephoned the latter yesterday(20 May 2009). Speaking further, the Pakistan State Minister stated that Pakistan has always been a steadfast friend of Sri Lanka and strongly supported the country's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and re-affirmed his Government's continued cooperation with Sri Lanka in countering terrorism. He requested the Deputy Minister to convey his good wishes and felicitations to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama.
Deputy Minister Bhaila, reciprocating the warm sentiments of his Pakistan counterpart, pointed out that the Government and the people of Sri Lanka have considered Pakistan as a true friend of Sri Lanka, which has always stood by it in times of need. Therefore, he deeply appreciated his Pakistan colleague's spontaneous gesture to telephone and convey the congratulations of the Pakistan Government on the defeat of terrorism in Sri Lanka, which is indeed a great victory for all peace loving people in the country."
Courtesy: The Island
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Malaysia, China support Sri Lanka in bid to stop UN inquiry
GENEVA: Sri Lanka has marshalled its allies to try to quash Western censure of alleged human rights abuses committed during its final phase of war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, diplomats said Friday.
Colombodeclared total victory over the Tigers on Monday after cornering them in the northeast of the island and killing off their leaders and remaining fighters in a climactic battle.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay last week backed calls in the West for an independent inquiry into possible war crimes in the tiny zone she said may have become a “killing field”.
Fending off outside criticism, Sri Lanka today presented to the UN Human Rights Council a draft resolution stating the “principle of non-interference” in internal matters and respect for its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
The draft was backed by 12 countries: China, India,Pakistan, Bahrain, Bolivia,Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia,Malaysia, Nicaragua, the Philippinesand Saudi Arabia.
Western diplomats, who are also preparing a resolution to be presented at a special Council session on Sri Lanka on Tuesday, said Colombo’s developing country allies were likely to band together to deflect serious scrutiny of its record.
“No matter how much we would like to have a UN investigation, it wouldn’t fly with the other countries,” a European diplomat told Reuters.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, speaking to a rally in Colombo, brushed off Western calls for a war crimes probe into acts by government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final months of war.
The United Nations said this week that the conflict had killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people since erupting into full-scale civil war in 1983. The toll includes unofficial and unverified tallies showing 7,000 civilian deaths since January.
Colombo’s draft welcomes the end of hostilities and the “liberation by Sri Lanka’s government of tens of thousands of its citizens that were kept by the LTTE against their will as hostages”, as well as the government’s efforts to bring peace.
It “commends” the government’s measures to address the urgent needs of internally displaced persons.”
Nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians, who followed or were taken by the Tigers as the military relentlessly cornered them, are now in crowded camps after fleeing in the final months.
Aid groups say that Sri Lankan authorities prevented access to the conflict zone and hampered the entry of life-saving medical supplies and evacuations of wounded people.
Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch denounced Sri Lanka’s text as “an outrageous abuse and show of contempt”.
“Sri Lanka does not deserve to be praised, but rather condemned for blocking humanitarian emergency relief to thousands, (and) creating conditions leading to the spread of diseases,” its executive director Hillel Neuer said.
European states led by Switzerland tried on Friday to hammer out a separate resolution to be submitted to the forum. “Our group is striving for a consensual text,” a diplomat said.
Their draft, obtained by Reuters, calls on Sri Lanka to “investigate all allegations” and bring to justice perpetrators of violations including hostage-taking, torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.
The Council meeting, being held at the request of the European Union and others, is likely to stretch into Wednesday. – (The Malaysian Insider/Reuters)
Comments:
May 23, 2009 09:11 am
Is there any possibility to leave the UN & commonwealth memberships, before they cancelle like Pakistan. Useless UN, dress of western dictators & colonialism, What did they do in Iraq overthrew power of Saddam by US? stii UN unable to bring peace for Iraq, Afganistan, Gaza, Israel-Palastine. Why did they elected Ban-Ki Moon? to threatten to North Korea. If UN interfears to our internal matters and doesn´t respect for its sovereignty useless to being in his membership. Beter to Sign defence aggreements between, India, China & Russia who has the veto power & military strength.
Jagath
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May 23, 2009 08:21 am
First of all, thank you very much to all the nations who have supported Sri Lanka during these difficult times and especially to the nations who have the wisdom and courage to back Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council on this issue. When has it ever happened that the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to rescue civilians had then been accused of human rights violations by a UN Council in return? The countries that support Sri Lanka see this scenario as a strong piece of evidence among other reasons to stand by Sri Lanka. The countries manipulated by Ms. Pillai, who are trying to bring these charges against Sri Lanka are nothing but a group of nations who have hidden agendas. They wish either to reprimand Sri Lanka for personal reasons (since they are connected to LTTE or Tamil Diaspora) or to send a message to strong, up and coming Asian nations such as India and China who are a direct threat to some of these long established western nations, politically, economically and militarily. These type of games have been played in the international scene for hundreds of years and the Asian countries who are new to this game, are getting better and better at playing and winning these bouts – just like cricket. Who ever thought that Sri Lanka would have beaten Australia in a world cup final? So, why should it be any different in a political chess game?
Nihal
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May 23, 2009 06:59 am
Objective of war crime charges against Sri Lankan leaders are two fold. 1. Prevent post LTTE reconciliation 2. Initiate ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka like 1983. This was revealed in recent meeting with LTTE (International) leaders and some European ministers and UN staff. They believe this is final requirement for Ealam. What are there justifications? In case IC and UN able to come against Sri Lankan leaders for war crime charges, then angry Sinhalese people may attack Tamils in Sri Lanka. This may help to next round of ealam dream. All Sri Lankan must act with Vigil.
SM Gamage
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May 23, 2009 05:13 am
N.Pillei, Why do not you inquire about killing of over 150 children in Afaganistan by USA. Why, you do not have mouth?
charlie
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May 23, 2009 03:27 am
Navy Pillay in the payroll of Diaspora. May have relations supporting the LTTE. Lets have some one non Tamil to conduct investigations which any way going to be a waste of time. Thanks to the countries backing Sri Lanka. They are true Friends.
Michael De Silva - Melbourne
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May 23, 2009 03:20 am
UNHC for HR, Navi Pillay is a pro-LTTE Tamil woman who has been against Sri Lanka for a long time. She is the first UN official to mention the "war crimes" against Sri Lanka when SL Army encircled the Tamil Tiger terrorists in Mullathive at the beginning. She is heavily lobbied by the pro-LTTE forces in UK, US and elsewhere. She has a hidden agenda, that is to tarnish Sri Lanka, and keep the Eelam dream alive. This woman can never be trusted. She is an enemy of Sri Lanka... These are the pro-LTTE vultures in the UN that GOSL must be fully aware of..
Nihal Perera
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May 23, 2009 02:40 am
FIRST THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT OF OUR FRIENDLY NATIONS,China, India,Pakistan, Bahrain, Bolivia,Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia,Malaysia, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia WESTERNERS.... SIMPLY AS THIS , GO TO HELL WITH PRABHA, IT´S GOOD FOR YOU TO KILL SO MANY IN IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, AND JAPAN, SO WE DIDN´T KILLED CIVILIANS, WE DETROYED THE LTTE TERRORIST GROUP.. IT´S GOOD FOR THEM TO GO TO OTHER NATION AND START KILLING , SO WE DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS TO DESTROY THE TERRORISTS IN OUR OWN BACK YARD, WHAT A TWO FACE COWARDS ARE YOU? HOW MUCH HAVE YOU TAKEN THE BRIBE FROM LTTE.... GO TO HELL, YOU ALL, IF YOU TELLING IT´S A KILLING FIELD, WATCH THE KILLING FIELD MOVIE, WHO´S TALKING, WHO KILLED WHO? DON´T POINT YOUR FINGER TO OTHERS, 4 FINGERS POINTING BACK AT YOU.. HEY PILLY,.. PONGA PONGA TO HELL PILLY.... LTTE
LALANI
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May 23, 2009 02:39 am
Why this western world so worried about Sl ? What Bush did to Irak and Sadam husain ? Still inersent irakers dying but All this humen rights and UN chatters are silent. Sri lanken ppl can stand their own feet. They dont scared or respecet to western any more.
shani
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May 23, 2009 01:25 am
Whole world should know that Navy Pillay is a racist tamil who has vested interest. Stop bulling the peace loving world from this currupts.
J. Pathirana
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May 23, 2009 01:17 am
We are greatfull to those 12 countrys they are friends indeed friends in need
Hafeel
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Canada must protect Sri Lankan Canadians: Consul General
Sri Lankan Consul General in Canada Bandula Jayasekara urges the Canadian government to protect peaceful Canadians of Sri Lankan origin from LTTE attacks.
“The Government of Canada and provincial police forces must take immediate steps to protect peaceful Canadians of Sri Lankan origin, says Sri Lankan Consul General in Toronto.
“A Sri Lankan restaurant in Brampton was firebombed by suspected Tamil Tiger supporters. Last week the Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple in Scarboroughwas set on fire, again by the same extremists, causing damage to the tune of some $40,000.
Other Sri Lankan community establishments (as opposed to Tamil Tiger fronts) are under significant threat in Canada, especially in the Greater Toronto Area. Peaceful 
Canadians of Sri Lankan origin cannot even gather at places of worship in Toronto. Their children are under threat in their schools and other places. Many of them have received hate mail and threatening phone calls. Some say that they are scared to organize cultural or sports events because they fear Tamil Tiger operatives.
“The threat level has increased significantly since the Tamil Tigers and their leader Prabhakaran were eliminated earlier this week. This follows a worldwide pattern; Sri Lankans have been attacked and injured and Sri Lankan establishments, including many embassies, in Great Britain, Europe and Australia have been attacked and damaged.
It is with regret that I say that nothing has been heard from government officials, provincial or federal, subsequent to the attacks and threats in Canada on Sri Lankan establishments except for Minister Jason Kenney’s condemnation of the burning of the Scarborough Buddhist Temple. I am especially dismayed by the silence of the Premier of Ontario, Mr. McGuinty.
“There is no point in issuing anodyne statements by Canadian politicians. What is required is action. What is required is proactive police protection of establishments that the community has identified and that should be 24/7 until the threat passes. What is required is active intervention in schools to remove the threat of Tamil Tiger thuggery within.
“It is terrible that innocent, law-abiding Sri Lankan Canadians are being subject to these outrages. As Consul General for the Government of Sri Lanka I have been approached by many with their stories. It is not within my power to protect these people. I can only appeal to the Canadian authorities to put a stop to the Tamil Tiger operatives who threaten the people whose homeland I represent.”
>> Full Story
The last days of Thiruvenkadam Veluppillai Prabhakaran - by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
It was here that Prabhakaran made four grave miscalculations.
Underestimating in two and
Overestimating in two
He overestimated the impact and influence of the diaspora in the west and the pro-tiger lobby in Tamil Nadu. The unfolding civilian catastrophe was his trump card.
Prabhakaran thought the western nations could be made to exert adequate pressure on Colombo and make it call off the war. Likewise he thought the passionate emotions of Tamil Nadu could sway New Delhi into moving against the war.
If these were overestimation errors , he also underestimated badly the Rajapakse regime as well as the armed forces.
Prabhakaran did not expect the armed forces to keep on progressing relentlessly as they did.But despite heavy losses the military juggernaut kept on rolling forward.
More importantly he expected President Mahinda Rajapakse would cave into pressure and call it quits. Then again Rajapakse too did not succumb and went ahead with the military campaign.
Thiruvenkadam Veluppillai Prabhakaran is no more!
The body of the 54 year old supreme leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) was found on Tuesday May 19th near the Mullaitheevu lagoon known as “Nanthikkadal” (sea of conches). He had gunshot wounds in the head and forehead.
Thus ended the life of the man who was once described by the LTTE’s political strategist, Anton Stanislaus Balasingham, as both “the president and prime minister of Tamil Eelam”. Army commander Sarath Fonseka announced the death officially at 12.15 pm on the 19th.
SOORIYATHEVAN
The ephemeral nature of power was illustrated vividly by the death of Prabhakaran who controlled what was perhaps the most powerful guerilla organization in the world and was raised to divine status as “Sooriyathevan” (Sun God) by his sycophantic followers.
The circumstances of his death were , just as in life , mired in controversy.His demise was anticipated before it happened. The discovery of his corpse was revealed in sections of the media even before it was found.Then the LTTE’s chief of International relations , Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP issued a denial of the death of his leader.
This has resulted in a bizarre situation where the Tamil diaspora remains overtly calm and cool while the media in Sri Lanka and abroad are going to town with news of his death as well as obituaries .
What is worse , there seems to be division among LTTE and pro-LTTE ranks overseas about how to respond to the leader’s death. One faction wants to acknowledge it , pay homage to Prabhakaran and proceed from there.
The others want to deny it and perpetuate the myth that the LTTE leader is alive. Elaborate efforts are on to circulate doctored images of Prabhakaran and also audio cassettes. The idea is to project an impression that Prabhakaran is safe in the north-eastern jungles leading a guerilla campaign with the participation of remaining cadres.
>> Full Story
Friday, May 22, 2009
Commander Salutes His Troops in Wanni
It is not big Armies that wing battles, it is the good ones”-Marshal Maurice de Saxe
AS THE SAYING GOES, Sri Lankan troops in Wanni who displayed unprecedented bravery that would never go out of fashion were felicitated and warmly congratulated Friday (22) morning by none other than the Commander of the Army General Sarath Fonseka who spearheaded the entire fight against terrorism and offered the necessary guidance and logistics.
For a Commander who never trimmed his words saying that “the Army is doing its best” but affirming that “I would not leave this fight for my successor,” his Kilinochchi 
visit this morning (22) to pay his tribute to those valiant troops was the most significant and historic one, perhaps during the whole of General Fonseka’s career.
General Sarath Fonseka on arrival at the Wanni Security Forces Headquarters was warmly received by Army Chief of Staff Major General G.A Chandrasiri.
After a brief stopover, General Fonseka made a bee-line to the Kilinochchi. Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander Security Forces, Wanni received Commander and his entourage with open arms and conducted him to the 57 Division Headquarters.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) 57 Division Major General Jagath Dias, as the senior most GOC, received their veteran chief who masterminded and meticulously engineered all operational tactics against the LTTE on his arrival in the 571 Brigade Headquarters. Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment troops accorded a Guard of Honour to the visiting Army chief.
General Sarath Fonseka afterwards spoke to Wanni-based all ranks and extended his best wishes and warm greetings to each and every soldier who did his part for the successful completion of the terrorist war for separation. During his speech to the occasion, General Fonseka who made his first visit to Kilinochchi after he was 
elevated to the rank of General told his troops that had it not been their sacrifices, similar to the heroic deeds of the king Dutugemunu, elimination of terrorism from this soil would not have been possible. He paid a glittering tribute to all the soldiers and remembered sacrifices made by our soldiers whose name will be written in gold in the future. General Sarath Fonseka also paid his gratitude and praise to His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Secretary Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and all who supported the armed forces. General Fonseka also did not fail to recall the dedication of our departed soldiers and others who turned disable.
Later on, Army Commander met all GOCs at the same venue and commended their dedication and commitment as Senior Ground Commanders.
>> Full Story
War heroes felicitation rally
The procession that began from Campbell Park to reach the Parliamentary Grounds is pictured here. This massive public rally is being held to felicitate the valiant soldiers who eradicated terrorism from Sri Lanka.
The beginning of a new era
By Ranjith Soysa
SPUR conveys its grateful thanks to the President and his political team while paying our highest tributes to all members of the Defence Forces. We cannot forget the contributions of the Sri Lankan individuals, the organizations, the nationalist forces which provided guidance to a nation battling the LTTE which was nourished by traitorous NGOs and INGOs including interfering members of the international community. Last but not least, we convey our thanks to the medical personnel and other patriots who supplemented the efforts of the Defence Forces. The brilliant contributions by a handful of senior officers and representatives manning the country’s foreign services nationally and internationally and the Peace Secretariat must also be acknowledged.
(May 21, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) President Mahinda Rajapakse’s proclamation that the LTTE also know as the Tamil Tigers have been militarily defeated is like the Sinhala proverb ‘pouring bees honey to one’s ears’. Sri Lanka and her people were terrorised and held to ransom for three decades by Prabahkaran, the criminal megalomaniac, and his cadres resulting in adverse consequences on economic and social development notwithstanding the resolve and resilience of Sri Lankans. Prabhakaran continued brutally and stupidly with his fascist quest to rule over his dream Eelam while serving the interests of countries such as Norway until he sought refugee behind Tamil civilians and finally met his Waterloo at the hands of the brave President.
The momentousness of the victory achieved by the farsighted and determined President Rajapakse, ably assisted by the highly professional Defence Secretary, the battle hardened Army Commander and the equally skilful Navy and Air Force Commanders has galvanized the Sri Lankan nation to seek and reach new vistas. The blood, the sweat, the tears and the lives of women and men of steel in the defence forces were placed at the disposal of the Nation and their role in this victory is indelible.
SPUR conveys its grateful thanks to the President and his political team while paying our highest tributes to all members of the Defence Forces. We cannot forget the contributions of the Sri Lankan individuals, the organizations, the nationalist forces which provided guidance to a nation battling the LTTE which was nourished by traitorous NGOs and INGOs including interfering members of the international community. Last but not least, we convey our thanks to the medical personnel and other patriots who supplemented the efforts of the Defence Forces. The brilliant contributions by a handful of senior officers and representatives manning the country’s foreign services nationally and internationally and the Peace Secretariat must also be acknowledged.
>> Full Story
ANALYSIS: Lessons from Sri Lanka —Najmuddin A Shaikh
This is a war for Pakistan’s survival. It must be fought without illusions and without yielding to the temptation to believe that one has credible and willing partners with whom a negotiated peace could be worked out
The curtain has at long last fallen on the destructive and polarising campaign of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, which claimed more than 70,000 lives over the last 26 years. Led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tigers pioneered the use of suicide bombers and were responsible for the assassination not only of Sri Lankan leaders but also of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Prabhakaran’s ruthlessness and total disregard for human rights did not appear to dent his hold on his people in the areas he controlled or even on the Tamils living abroad.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the defence minister, adopted the same ruthlessness and disregard for human rights to achieve victory. From the Sri Lankan perspective, theirs was a desperate battle for survival as a united state. Previous efforts at finding a negotiated settlement had all foundered on the rocks of LTTE intransigence. Humanitarian concern about the innocent Tamils trapped and kept trapped by the LTTE for use as human shields was understandable but for the Sri Lankan army there was, in their view, no alternative to seeking an unconditional surrender, whatever the ‘collateral damage’.
Today there is outcry in the West about the manner in which the Sri Lankan army conducted operations and about the suppression of dissent in the Sri Lankan media. There is talk of denying Sri Lanka the IMF loan it desperately needs and withdrawing the preferential trading sights that it enjoys with the European Union. Yet the need of the hour is assistance for the refugees and for the more than a quarter of a million people who were more or less held hostage by the Tamil Tigers in their “last stand”.
>> Full Story
Thursday, May 21, 2009
China keeping close eye on developments in Sri Lanka
Spokesman from China's foreign ministry, Ma Zhaoxu, has said that China sincerely hopes the Sri Lankan government can take action to resolve ethnic conflict, keep the peace and boost economic growth.
Ma said China has been keeping a close eye on developments in Sri Lanka adding that the Chinese government had offered one million US dollars in humanitarian aid earlier this month and had sent relief supplies, worth three million dollars. (CCTV)
LTTE leaders killed by Tigers: Kohona
The desperate efforts of two senior LTTE leaders trapped in the war zone to save their lives were revealed as it emerged they were shot dead as they prepared to surrender to Sri Lankan Government forces.
In a flurry of e-mails, text messages and telephone calls that passed between NGOs, a foreign government and Sri Lankan officials in Colombo, the two LTTE political leaders frantically inquired as to how they could give themselves up.
They were told: "Get a piece of white cloth, put up your hands and walk towards the other side in a non-threatening manner."
But the attempt to surrender by Balasingham Nadesan, head of the LTTE's wing, and Seevaratnam Pulidevan, who led the rebels' peace secretariat, failed. Sometime between midnight on May 17 and the early hours of the next morning, the two men were shot dead. LTTE officials overseas claim the two men were killed by Government troops as they approached them bearing a white flag. The Sri Lankan Government has suggested the two men may have been shot dead by LTTE fighters, angry at them fleeing the conflict zone.
The Government's point man in the negotiations appears to have been Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona. He said that in the days leading up to Sunday evening, he had received a number of messages indicating that Mr. Nadesan and Mr. Pulidevan – whom he has met at various peace talks – wanted a way out. It is understood that a number of these messages were delivered from an European NGO with a history of working in northern Sri Lanka.
>> Full Story
Prabhakaran’s entire family dead- Report
The bodies of Mathvathani Erambu, identified as Prabhakaran’s wife and a girl Duvaraka and a young boy Balachandran identified as Prabhakaran’s children were found in the vicinity of the body of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, according to a report today qouting the army.
Comments:
Prabakaran was a curse to be born in Srilanka.He ruined a beautiful country,its economy and citizens.He betrait his own Tamil people and made all peoples life missarable.Many lost their loved ones.He finally died like nothing.A total misfit in a society.I sincerly hope the younger genaration will lean a bitter lesson from his life.
A9 highway to be opened next week
The A9 highway is likely to open to the general public by next week, once clearance has been received from the Defence Ministry, says the Government Information Department.
Plans are afoot to develop and modernize roads in the north and work on some have already commenced. The A-32 road is now under reconstruction, the Ministry of Highways revealed.
Repairs have been completed on 83 kilometres on this road using local funding and the government of China has come forward to provide additional funding to complete the reconstruction work on the highway, sources added.
Meanwhile, reconstruction work is also being carried out on the A9 highway, Silawathura-Murunkan road, Puttalam, Mannar and Thalaimannar roads.
>> Full Story
Tiger web keeps spinning
Though the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has been killed along with his top rung leaders and have been positively identified, pro Tiger web news keep spinning theories and accusations against the Government and military of Sri Lanka.
The latest in these spinning actions comes from one Prof. Francis Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law, who was interviewed by Los Angeles KPFK radio host, Michael Slate on Tuesday. Boyle goes on to accuse the Sri Lanka Government of ‘bulldozing and destroying evidence of massacres in the Safety Zone while preventing access to the Red Cross and UN agencies’.
Boyle added that the United States Government with spy satellites would be knowing exactly what Sri Lanka’s actions are in the Safe Zone, and stand implicated along with UK, France, and India in allowing the genocide to happen.
However, the Sri Lankan government, the security establishment and media related officials should not rest on their laurels now.
“The propaganda for war crimes will rise and more like Prof. Boyle will start spinning webs. Countering these will be an uphill task if they do not be prepared,” said an observer conversant with the like of these international busybodies.
“Just go to the websites and check under Francis Boyle and you will wonder which side of his bread is buttered,” he added.
>> Full Story
Ironic coincidence and a twist of fate
The man responsible for the death of Rajiv Gandhi did not live to see the 18th death anniversary of the assassinated Indian prime minister. Thus is the strong hand of justice that is meted out in this life itself.
In a twist of fate, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, blamed for the assassination of Gandhi on May 21, 1991, was himself killed by Colombo troops in the north of Sri Lankaon Monday.
Gandhi, then 54, was killed by a woman LTTE cadre in Sriperumbudur, about 30km from Chennai, while about to deliver an election speech.
At about 10pm on that unfortunate day, the young woman, later identified as Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Tanu, detonated about 700 grams of RDX hidden under her dress as she bowed to touch Gandhi’s feet.
“It was the biggest mistake of the LTTE (to carry out the assassination). They were totally alienated by the Indian population after that. No political party will touch them,” Colonel R. Hariharan, retired head of intelligence of the Indian peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990, told Bernama.
Prabhakaran, who led a strong militant force against the government army then, was totally against India’s decision to send a peacekeeping force to the northern part of Sri Lanka.
>> Full Story
Praba’s remains to be buried in Wanni - SLA
The body of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and other leaders will be buried in the Wanni, Military spokesman said today. The Military has collected over 350 bodies LTTE cadres after the final battle.
It's time for hard work
Victory celebrations seem to be dragging on inordinately. They were, no doubt, spontaneous and the victims of LTTE terrorism had a reason to dance in the streets upon the outfit's decapitation. Hoopla naturally surrounds a monster's demise. People also rejoiced at the news of JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera's violent death at the hands of the army twenty years ago. They lit firecrackers and ate milk rice in public the way they are doing at present.
But, this is the time for sober reflection and not protracted celebrations.
Doomsday prophets who predicted that in battling terrorism Sri Lanka would have to settle for a pyrrhic victory have had to eat their words. However, victory has come at a huge cost. Many have been killed or maimed in battle, tens of thousands of people displaced, property destroyed and billions of rupees spent on a massive military campaign.
Military expenditure is bound to remain high for years to come as demobilisation is not possible in the near future. Instead, many more will have to be recruited into the armed forces and the police for deployment in the newly liberated areas. Families of fallen war heroes need to be compensated and the disabled servicemen looked after. The displaced civilians need to be resettled as fast as possible. This means colossal rehabilitation and reconstruction expenditure which will have a severe strain on the national economy already bled dry.
>> Full Story
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
ALL GUNS SILENCED: SRI LANKA ARMY DISPROVES WORLDWIDE CONCEPT ON TERRORISM
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn at the going dawn of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them lest we forget”
MULLAITTIVU: FLUTTERING Division, Brigade and Unit flags of the Sri Lanka Army in VELLLAMULLIVAIKKAL, PUTHUMATALAN showered their cool breeze on the entire NANTHIKANDAL lagoon and the Mother Sri Lanka alike when thousands of Army troops who toiled day and night for liberation of this tiny Nation in the past few months formally ceased their fire Wednesday (20) afternoon at 14.30 hrs during a military ceremony, headed by Major General JAGATH JAYASURIYA, Commander Security Forces Wanni, General Officers Commanding, Brigade Commanders, Senior Officers and all ground commanders.
Today’s military event, designed for official declaration of Silencing of Military Guns is unprecedented in the history of Sri Lanka, giving a humiliating blow to the world’s traditional myth that “Terrorism cannot be militarily defeated” as taught in military academia worldwide.
Amidst hails of greetings and warm wishes, Army troops fired a rain of symbolic last shots into the MULLAITTIVU seas after senior Army officers took their seats in the company of their fellow-soldiers. Marking the formal end of the brutal war, visiting Wanni Commander inspected weapon stocks captured from the LTTE that had been laid out on the ground at the location and took time off personally to extend his warm greetings to soldiers and ground commanders.
A two-minute silence was observed by all as a mark of respect to their fallen War Heroes before commencement of the day’s proceedings and it turned out to be an emotional moment of burst to some of those soldiers who lost their fellow-troopers in action. The brief ceremony came to a close after all soldiers together with their superiors posed for a group photo, one that would bring immortal memories for generations.
On the direct supervision of the Commander of the Army General Sarath Fonseka, Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander Security Forcers Wanni, 53 Division Commander Major General Kamal Gunarathna, 55 Division Commander Brigadier Prasanna Silva, 56 Division Commander Major General H.C.P. Gunathilake, 57 Division Commanders Major General S. Sooriya Bandara and Major General Jagath Dias, 58 Division Commander Brigadier Shavendra Silva, 59 Division Commanders Major General Nandana Udawatta and Brigadier C.P. Gallage, Task Force - 2 Commander Brigadier P.M.R. Bandara, Task Force - 3 Commander Brigadier S.D.T. Liyanage, Task Force - 4 Commander Colonel N.D. Wanniarachchi, Task Force - 5 Commander Colonel G.J.A.W. Galagamage, Task Force - 6 Commander Colonel K.A.C.H. Kodithuwakku, Task Force - 7 Commander Colonel A.W.M.P.R. Senevirathna, Task Force - 8 Commander Colonel G.V. Ravipriya, Area Headquarters Commander (Mannar) Colonel T.J. Nanayakkara, Area Headquarters Commander (Welioya) Colonel D.A.R Ranawaka and a host of Brigade Commanders, Unit Commanders and thousands of War Heroes in above Regiments actively contributed to the successful completion of the terrorist menace once for all.
>> Full Story
Sri Lanka’s decisive military victory over terrorism no jubilation for United States
Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune Washington, D.C. 20 May (Asiantribune.com): The United States which strongly encouraged Sri Lanka to engage in political negotiations with Tamil Tigers believing the outfit’s invincibility implicitly and explicitly indicating that their total annihilation will silence the voice of the minority ethnic Tamils had no immediate reaction to the outfit’s total defeat on Monday May 18.
The U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly at the daily media briefing on Tuesday side stepped the issue of U.S. Government congratulating Sri Lanka. Instead he was continually referring to humanitarian situation and the internally displayed person’s plight.
When asked by a reporter as to why the United States comments of the defeat of a ruthless terrorist outfit “couched in sort of moral equivalent terms of the fighting is over, we’re glad that this has ended” without making a statement congratulating the Government of Sri Lanka, the spokesman continued with his comments about the displaced persons and their welfare.
The accredited State Department journalist asked the spokesman point blank “Isn’t this a victory over terrorism? Isn’t that worth celebrating”, he refused to offer the Government of Sri Lanka the Obama administration’s congratulations.
The Asian Tribune carries here the exact dialogue that went between the reporter and the State Department spokesman Ian Kelly:
Question: Yeah. With LTTE designated by our government as a foreign terrorist organization, why are you not congratulating Sri Lanka for concluding a decisive military victory over a foreign terrorist organization? Why our comments all are couched in sort of moral equivalent terms of the fighting is over, we’re glad that this has ended? Isn’t this a victory over terrorism?
Mr. Kelly: I don’t like you saying that I’m using moral equivalent terms, I have to say, James. Look, I mean, we are less than 24 hours into what I hope is a new era for the Sri Lankan people. And as I said before, our focus is on addressing these very urgent needs of the Sri Lankan people, these almost 300,000 dispossessed, displaced people. Our policy on the LTTE – the Tamil Tigers – has been very clear. We see them as a terrorist organization.
>> Full Story
FIRST SERVING GENERAL IN COMMANDER CAPACITY HONOURED
FOR A NATION that has been held captive by a bunch of inhuman terrorists for over three decades, dedication and commitment amply displayed by thousands of heroic Army troops was the only solace peace – loving people in Sri Lanka have had all this time.
The country’s fate, thanks to the unmatched leadership, courage, determination and more importantly because of the commitment of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Secretary Defence Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Tri Service chiefs, turned towards a momentous path of victory.
The Mavil Aru turning point in the contemporary military history, which laid the foundation for the onset of eternal peace in Sri Lanka after decimation of three-decade old evil powers, set the wheels of change in motion.
Commander of the Army, General Sarath Fonseka, who was accorded a historic Guard of Honour Wednesday (20) morning at Army Headquarters upon his return to the highest mantle of his military career as the first-ever serving General to continue as Commander of the Army after President Rajapaksa as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces promoted him and other two service chiefs to their next ranks.
General Sarath Fonseka upon his arrival at the venue inspected the Guard Turnout and was conducted by Parade Commander, Major General Jayanath Perera to receive the Guard of Honour, accorded by soldiers of his own Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment.
>> Full Story
How the LTTEs were beaten in an 'unwinnable' war
It has proved that to be untrue. But how Sri Lanka won its victory — and whether it should be condoned or copied — is the subject of an international debate that touches on the War on Terror, the UN and the new geopolitical world order.
It was supposed to be the unwinnable war. For almost three decades, Sri Lanka was held up as an example of how a small democratic state with a conventional army could never defeat a well-funded and disciplined guerrilla organisation.
It has proved that to be untrue. But how Sri Lanka won its victory — and whether it should be condoned or copied — is the subject of an international debate that touches on the War on Terror, the UN and the new geopolitical world order.
Opinion is divided about whether Sri Lanka will win the peace by offering its 2.4 million ethnic Tamils an acceptable devolution package.
Whichever side one takes though, Sri Lanka offers valuable lessons for any country facing an insurgency — such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.
>> Full Story
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Victory Speech by President of Sri Lanka HE Mahinda Rajapaksa at Parliament on 2009-May-19
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Monday, May 18, 2009
DNA tests on body of Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader
The body of the leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, is to undergo DNA and forensic tests along with the corpses of other top rebels, officials said today.
Prabhakaran was killed this morning along with two of his deputies after a two-hour firefight when they tried to break to freedom through advancing government troops, defence officials said. His body was badly burnt when his armour-plated van was hit by a rocket and burst into flames.
State television broke into its regular programming to announce Prabhakaran’s death, and the government information department sent a text message to cell phones across the country confirming that he was dead.
The announcement prompted mass celebrations around the country, and people poured into the streets of Colombo dancing and singing.
>> Full Story
Tamil Tiger leader 'killed' by Sri Lanka troops
COLOMBO (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead Monday while trying to flee advancing troops, defence officials told AFP.
Prabhakaran was with several close aides in a small convoy of a van and ambulance which tried to drive out of the battle zone when it was ambushed by commandos, the senior defence ministry official said.
The news came as the military said that the entire island was now under government control, after decades of conflict with the rebels that left more than 70,000 people dead.
Prabhakaran was "killed with two others inside the vehicle. There will be a formal announcement later," the official said on condition he not be named.
The defence ministry said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leadership was decimated, heralding an end to their long battle to carve out an independent ethnic homeland in the north of the island.
>> Full Story
Prabhakaran shot dead while trying to break Army siege: Sri Lanka
Colombo (PTI): Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was on Monday shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the Army encirclement, a military spokesman said.
Prabhakaran and his top aides came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to drive out of the war zone, but were gunned down, he said.
However, the Army is withholding an official announcement till a DNA test of the bodies are conducted.
The Tiger chief was killed with two others, who are yet to be identified but believed to be his closest associates LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers' chief Soosoi.
The deaths of the top LTTE leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old battle has reached its "bitter end" and they have decided to "silence" their guns.
Earlier in the morning, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara had said that Prabhakarn was still alive but completely encircled by advancing Sri Lankan forces in a tiny jungle area north of Vellamullivaikkal after most of the LTTE's top leaders were found killed.
>> Full Story
Ilango, Sundaram and Kapil Amman dead?
Troops have uncovered the bodies, suspected to be of Ilango (LTTE ‘Police’ wing chief), Sundaram (Charles Anthony’s close aide) and Kapil Amman. The bodies were found abandoned North of Vellamullivaikkal, the Defence Ministry said.
Sri Lanka main opposition to lose another seat in parliament
Sun, May 17, 2009, 08:48 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 17, Colombo: The vacant parliament seat of the main opposition United National Party due to the death of MP Alick Aluvihare is to go for Nandimithra Ekanayaka of the ruling party.
Although Nandimithra Ekanayaka is now representing the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance he was the next highest preferential votes taker for the United National Party from Matale District in the last general election.
In 2004, Eakanayaka contested for the general election from UNP representing Matale district.
He crossed over to the government side before the Central Provincial Council election and contested from the ruling party for CPC polls in last February.
However, the main opposition United National Party has not made any statement yet over the vacant parliament membership of their list.
If Nadimithra Ekanayaka is selected for the vacant MP post, UNP will lose another seat in the parliament.
>> Full Story
An acid and knife attack on two Sinhalese students in Australia
Australian Associated Press General News
English
(c) 2009 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved
ACID By Karen Davis
SYDNEY, May 18 AAP - An acid and knife attack on two Sri Lankan students as they slept in their Sydney home is tragic and disturbing, the country's consul general says.
Gothami Indikadahena has visited the home in Alexandra Avenue at Westmead, where five men forced their way inside about midnight (AEST) on Sunday.
The intruders threw acid on two men inside and stabbed one, who was also left with a broken ankle.
The house has shattered windows and there are blood splashes on the pavement outside. Broken windows and furniture are further evidence of the violent incident.
A witness to the attack was now being protected for fear of another attack, Ms Indikadahena said.
"This is a very tragic incident - these boys were just sleeping," she said.
"We want to contain these incidents because we are a united country ... we have appealed to the Sri Lankan community not to take these incidents serious.
"We have a witness and we are protecting him because we are worried that he could also be subject to attack."
She has called for calm in the wake of the attack, which left one of the men in Concord Hospital with burns and the other in Westmead Hospital.
"I am really very disturbed. These are innocent boys," she told reporters at the scene.
"I feel like they are my brothers or my sons.
"I feel very very sad."
She said the men were foreign students and one of them had worked at a KFC restaurant.
Their families had been informed and were worried, particularly for the burned man who was now fighting for his life.
Police have refused to confirm reports the attack is linked to unrest between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic groups.
Ms Indikadahena said she understood the boys were not connected to an earlier brawl involving the rival ethnic groups outside Westmead railway station.
Police said two carloads of men assaulted another man who had taken a Tamil flag from them and snapped a pole in half on Railway Parade at Westmead.
The man was taken to Westmead Hospital with lacerations and deep tissue damage.
It follows weeks of protests in Sydney and Canberra in which Tamils urged the government to take action to stop what they call genocide in their homeland.
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers admitted defeat on Sunday in their 37-year battle for an independent ethnic homeland.
"I just needed to see the scene for myself because I need to send a report to Colombo," Ms Indikadahena said.
Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony's body was found!!!!! Machan Pulley..Nadesan are also History
On Monday, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said troops had found the body of Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony, who was said to be the head of the rebels' air wing.
Prabhakaran has three children and Charles Anthony — named after a rebel leader who died earlier in the war — was the only one thought to be fighting along with his father.
Separately, the military said special forces found the bodies of the rebels' political wing leader, Balasingham Nadesan, the head of the rebels' peace secretariat, Seevaratnam Puleedevan, and one of the top military leaders, known as Ramesh.
>> Full Story
Towards a new Sri Lanka
The war is over in all but name. The LTTE's giant killing machine has been destroyed and the fate of Prabhakaran and other key terrorists will be known before long.
It may not be hyperbolic that little Lanka's victory over terrorism is not second to the near impossible rare feats of humankind like man's landing on the moon. Her war had the trappings of a David-Goliath contest with all the western powers, save a few, unabashedly siding with a savage terrorist outfit they themselves had outlawed on their soil. Even the UN handled Sri Lanka's war as if the LTTE were a member state! It is a miracle that Sri Lanka managed to crush terrorism.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government must be commended for courageously withstanding tremendous pressure even from the likes of US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and prosecuting the war with a single minded will to succeed; and the armed forces, their commanders, the police, the IGP and, most of all, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa deserve high praise for steering the war to a successful conclusion.
Sri Lanka's war was not fought on the military front alone. The LTTE and its collaborators opened several fronts – political, economic, diplomatic, human rights and propaganda. Hadn't the enemy been effectively neutralised on all those fronts, perhaps the country's military campaign would have come a cropper.
Ironically, when the LTTE received a decapitating strike at the hands of the Sri Lanka army, India rejected Eelam politically at a national election. AIADMK leader Jayaram Jayalalithaa, who turned India's parliamentary election into a referendum on Eelam by asking the Tamil Nadu people to give her a mandate to carve out a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka, has been rejected. The Congress Party, which came under fire in the Lok Sabha for helping Sri Lanka defeat the LTTE, has scored a spectacular victory. The people of India have spoken loud and clear and it is up to the LTTE backers to figure out what they have said: India is not for Eelam, which is as dead as a dodo. The US, the EU and Norway ought to take cognisance of the Indian people's eloquent verdict.
>> Full Story
Moon’s rep calls KP from KIA toilet
UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon’s Representative Vijay Nambiar on his arrival at the BIA over the weekend had phoned notorious LTTE arms smuggler ‘KP’ now believed to be based in Malaysia, well informed sources told The Island.
Nambiar, formerly of the Indian Foreign Service had been in touch with the terrorist for sometime, the sources said. ‘KP’ was on the wanted list of Interpol and believed to have moved to Malaysia from Thailand.
Sources said that Norwegians, too, had been in constant touch with the fugitive also wanted by India over his involvement in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
>> Full Story
Sri Lanka rebels willing to surrender arms - Norway
OSLO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are willing to surrender their arms to a third party, after having conceded defeat in a 25-year civil war, former peace mediator Norway said on Sunday.
"I have been in touch with the Tamil Tigers many times today," Norway's Development Aid Minister Erik Solheim told Reuters. "They have made it clear to us that they are ready to give up arms to the international community."
Earlier on Sunday, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conceded they had lost the war, after putting up heavy resistance to a final assault by government troops.
The LTTE resisted earlier diplomatic pressure to lay down its weapons until it had little other choice. Sri Lanka's government had already ruled out surrender via a third party.
The military says it is fighting sporadic battles to wipe out the handful of LTTE fighters remaining in less than 1 square km area.
"The main issue now is to get access to this area for independent verification and for evacuation of the wounded," Solheim said. "There may be many wounded."
Solheim said he could provide no new information on the fate of LTTE founder-leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran. Military sources said a body believed to be his was recovered and its identity was being confirmed.
He said other LTTE leaders were alive and leading the fight.
Sri Lanka said it no longer recognised Norway as mediator in a moribund peace process, after LTTE supporters ransacked the Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo in April.
>> Full Story
President to address the nation on Tuesday
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will ceremoniously address the nation from Parliament on Tuesday, May 19 at 9.30 am on the military victory over the LTTE, says the Government Information Department.
The announcement came as pro-LTTE websites reported the Tigers as having said the battle has reached its bitter end, and that it has decided to ‘silence its guns.’
The Defence Ministry said the remaining LTTE cadres are now confined to a 400m x 600m land area in Vellamullaivaikkal in Mullaitivu.
Operations to capture them are underway, it said.
Meanwhile, human rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said projected fears of an imminent bloodbath during final phase of the humanitarian operation based on false LTTE propaganda have now proved to be wrong
>> Full Story
Army rescues seven POWs from LTTE grip
Army 59 Division troops have rescued 7 servicemen held captive by LTTE terrorists at Vellamullaivaikkal this morning (May 17).
According to information received, 4 sailors and 3 soldiers were among the rescued.
Lance Corporal Thennakoon of 1st Vijayaba Regiment (VIR), Lance Corporal Weerasingha of 4th Gemunu Watch (GW) and Private Ranasinghe of 6th Sinha Regiment (SR) of Sri Lanka Army and Leading Mechanical Engineer (LME), P.K.I. Pitiyakumbura, Leading Seaman (S/L) G.H.C.K.Hewage, Able-body Seaman (A/B) K.M.K.H.Kumarasiri and Recruit M.G.A.P.Bambaradeniya of Sri Lanka Navy finally saw their emancipation following the Army's rescue operation.
Sailors P.K.I. Pitiyakumbura, G.H.C.K.Hewage, K.M.K.H.Kumarasiri, and M.G.A.P.Bambaradeniya had fallen into LTTE hands after Sea Tigers rammed two Navy Dvoras (P-461 & P-416) serving Point Pedro seas on 9th November 2006. Observations later said Tiger terrorists had captured those sailors alive and reportedly taken away but no confirmed reports reached the authorities.
One of the rescued Army soldiers has been captured alive by terrorists in Muhamalai following clashes that took place in the early stage of the Wanni operations.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Prabhakaran body recovered?
By Asian Tribune Team
Colombo, 17 May, (Asiantribune.com): Latest report emerging from the war zone reveals that Prabhakaran’s body has been recovered and it has been flown to an Army camp in Colombo for DNA testing and to confirm it medically.
At the time of filing this report it is learnt that Sri Lankan Army has so far recovered more than 35 dead bodies of the Tigers and they continue to collect more bodies.
It is learnt that except for Dwaraka, the only daughter of Prabhakaran who is away somewhere in Dublin for her higher studies, said to be holding a Swedish Nationality Passport, all the other members of the family - Prabhakaran (father), Charles Anthony (son), Balachandran (son) and Mathivathani(wife) have deceased according to an unconfirmed report emerging from an army source, who wanted to remain anonymous.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa who arrived early this morning and received a heroic welcome at the international airport at Katunayake, will not be delivering an address to the nation as earlier planned.
According to a source in the Presidential Secretariat, it is now learnt that he will be filing a report in the Sri Lanka Parliament on Tuesday 19 May, regarding victory over the Tamil Tigers and the end of the three decade old scourge of terrorism in the country.
>> Full Story
Sri Lankan rebels admit defeat after longdrawn war
"They fought for an Eelam (separate state) that they could never win. It was only a waste of lives. They have caused massive death and destruction over the years. Finally they themselves have realised that it is all over."
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday admitted defeat in their 37-year battle for an independent ethnic homeland, with their few remaining fighters encircled in the jungle by soldiers.
The Tigers' armed campaign against the government left well over 70,000 people dead in decades of pitched battles, suicide attacks, bomb strikes and assassinations.
"This battle has reached its bitter end," the Tigers' chief of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, said in a statement carried on the pro-rebel Tamilnet website.
"We remain with one last choice -- to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns.
"Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer."
Only two years ago, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled nearly a third of the island nation and operated an effectively autonomous Tamil state with courts, schools and a civil service.
But the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse launched a huge military offensive which drove the Tigers out of the east and then the north, before trapping the remaining guerrillas on the coast.
The military's final push for victory has come at the cost of thousands of innocent lives, the United Nations has said, with the government's brutal tactics attracting widespread international condemnation.
The LTTE's announcement came as the island's defence ministry said all civilians held by the Tigers had escaped the war zone, with the last few rebel fighters boxed into a small patch of jungle.
"They were actually defeated some time ago, but they have formally accepted defeat only now," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told AFP.
>> Full Story
A proud President returns to his terror free motherland
President Mahinda Rajapaksa after a two day official visit to Jordon returned in an emotion packed jubilant mood to his motherland this morning at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake.
As he kept his foot on the soil of his nation, filled with emotion and joy,President Rajapaksa touched the soil and worshipped his motherland in tribute in a heart rending manner that moved many a patriotic citizen of this country freed from the menace of terrorism after 30 long years.
Religious dignitaries from Buddhist,Christian,Hindu and Islamic faith bestowed 
blessings on the Head of State who had freed the nation from the menace of LTTE terrorism which cost nearly 100,000 lives of citizens in a 30 year cruel terrorist war
>> Full Story
All hostages rescued - troops enter LTTE’s last hideout -Army
Troops have rescued all remaining civilians held hostage by LTTE terrorists; revealed military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara a few minutes ago today (May 17). He said that troops have rescued over 50,000 civilians during last 72 hours.
According to the battlefield sources, Army 53, 58 and 59 Division soldiers have entered into the area where LTTE leaders have been cowering among the civilians during last couple of weeks. Soldiers are now looking for sick and disabled people that may be left in the area as almost all the others held at hostage by the terrorists have been rescued.
Meanwhile, LTTE made an abortive attempt to breach the Army defence line on the Western bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon during the wee hours today (May 17). The LTTE cadres launched a surface attack across the Nanthikadal lagoon using several boats between 1.30 AM to 3.30 AM. According to the latest information, troops have been able to crush the LTTE attack causing heavy damages to the terrorists.
Troops have so far collected over 70 bodies of LTTE cadres.
HE arrives in Sri Lanka
Before step on the Sri Lankan soil, HE paid tribute to his motherland by placing his forehead on the ground and worshiping the land he has liberated from terrorism.
His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces has arrived the country after a two day official visit to the Kingdom of Jordan where he participated the G-11 summit.
Before step on the Sri Lankan soil, HE paid tribute to his motherland by placing his forehead on the ground and worshiping the land he has liberated from terrorism. At present, he is being blessed by Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu and Muslim priests at the Bandaranayike International Air Port.
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Has LTTE leader Prabhakaran embraced death?
It is widely believed that the 54 year old tiger supremo who was born on November 26th 1954 has committed suicide along with more than 300 of his deputies and senior cadres in the Mullivaaikkaal area of Karaithuraipatru AGA division in Mullaitheevu district.
Unconfirmed reports say that the injured LTTE leader and several of his senior deputies had embraced death voluntarily in keeping with the LTTE practice of suicide.
There were also conflicting reports that the LTTE had triggered off a huge explosion in which their bodies were destroyed after taking cyanide first.
Another report said the armed forces had identified the “structure” in which Prabhakaran was staying and demolished it through powerful explosives.
It is said that the announcement about Prabhakaran’s “death” is being withheld until tomorrow Sunday May 17th to be revealed publicly by President Mahinda Rajapakse in a special address to the nation.
>> Full Story
USA Opposes IMF Loan to Sri Lanka: Why not negotiate a long term loan facility from China, Russia and other friendly countries?
By Raj Gonsalkorale
The West led by the USA has opposed an IMF standby facility to Sri Lanka at present. Although the IMF is outside her official jurisdiction as it is a subject under the US Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced this after talks with David Milliband, the British Foreign Secretary. If the USA opposes the loan, then that will be the end of the matter, and Sri Lanka will not get the loan. Political double speak that Hillary Clinton and David Milliband has been engaging in, leaving the door half open for the loan to be given “when conditions are right" should not deceive Sri Lanka.
The West has driven Sri Lanka steadily into the fold of the emerging supper power, China and now Sri Lanka has no choice but to embrace China and other friends like Russia, Iran, Libya, and Jordon among others, and identify itself as a true friend of these countries. One school of thought is that there is no point fiddling around on the fringes anymore. For better of worse, Sri Lanka should state clearly who their friends are and make it known to the West that they can survive without the duplicity of the West.
There will be repercussions as a result of an open statement to this effect. The only way to avoid or minimize them would be to ask for China and Russia to help and standby Sri Lanka when India and even Pakistan, a staunch ally of Sri Lanka, but now beholden to the USA for the monetary support they are getting, may start undermining Sri Lanka at the behest of the USA. After all Pakistan got their $ 7.6 million IMF loan thanks to US urging.
As a start, Sri Lanka should meet the leadership of China, Russia, Iran and countries like Venezuela in South America to assist with a standby loan facility. True, the current economic crises would make the possibility of such a facility difficult as all these countries are suffering as a result of a crises caused by the USA, and interest rates will be much higher than borrowing from the IMF. But it is better to bow one’s heads to these countries rather than grovel to the West, as an IMF loan will have serious political conditions attached to it, some conditions that will be very unpalatable for Sri Lanka.
The other school of thought is that Sri Lanka too should divide and rule and engage closer with some Western countries, as well as Opposition political parties in some Western countries that are due for elections soon. In particular, in UK, where the Conservative party is set to win the next general election. One wonders whether Sri Lanka has had any dialogue with the Conservative Party as they have not made their views known about the Sri Lankan situation as yet. Countries like Australia; although not in the same league as the USA, have much to lose if they are too closely aligned with the USA, as that will not please China, a country that Australia is dependent on for their mineral exports. Australia has always been a friend of Sri Lanka and it would be strategically important for Sri Lanka to develop even a closer relationship with them.
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